Bleaker Buzz: Language Play
'Idiomatic Language from the Daiellen Sector' Rowdy, rambunctious, and c-c-cold, the planet Surebleak provides rich fodder for creative expression. Starting with I Dare, the dialogue is filled with cool coinings, icy expressions, wintry word play, metaphors, similes, analogies, and other interesting language. Names change, too, Surebleak style. Wintry Imagery Surebleak is cold, and 'Bleaker lives revolve around the weather, so there's lots of wintry language. (But no sledding scenes, yet) *"He was beginning to think the little guy was a couple snowflakes short of a blizzard." I Dare, Day 307 *"Blizzard! It's gotta be the same kid!" I Dare, Day 309 *"Once in a summer snowstorm." I Dare, Day 308 *“She had me call the Watch. They’ll be here before the next blizzard, I guess.”Dragon in Exile chapter 36 *Miri, showing her 'Bleaker roots: "Could've knocked me over with a snowflake"Agent of Change, chapter 18 *"as pitiless as a dead winter night"I Dare, Day 307 *"...his voice about as warm as a Surebleak winter morning"I Dare, Day 59 *“Some people were too stupid to come in out’a the snow”Necessity’s Child, chapter 8 *"We can get the boy outta this particular snow drift, but that leaves the paper itself. Plainly said, ma'am, that's a bad paper.”Street Cred, in Change Management * "How is it said here? Ah. We are in the belly of the blizzard.” *“Right you are," he said, and turned back to the Liadens, who were sitting like they'd been quick frozen.” *“Skene shook her head. “You was a big snowball on the old world, hey?” Dragon in Exile, ch 11 *"No rush; ain't snowing." *"I don't mean any insult, but that trader sounds to be an ice bitch."Dragon in Exile, chapter 16 *"Zimmer came in, one arm in a sling, his face white as a snowbank"Dragon in Exile, chapter 21 *“She paused, but the only thing she was getting from Val Con was a blizzard.” Neogenesis, Surebleak / chapter 20 *"Yesterday, I was at market, and freeze me if there weren't a whole bin o'raisins just come in"Block Party, online at Baen.com *“The baker, she almost got made an example, but she had one of Boss Conrad’s ’hands with her in the shop, so that melted before it froze.” Dragon in Exile, chapter 22 *“which —- snow and sleet! — would mean the power cell in Kreller’s hoopie’d been run down for no good reason.”Dragon in Exile, chapter 15 *“Would’ve thrown the fear of freezing into a couple of ’em,” Miri allowed thoughtfullyDragon in Exile, chapter 23 *"...show the New Bosses a thing or three, and put the fear of winter into 'em." *“Queterian carpet, though -- that’s what we here on Surebleak call ice on top the snow. It’s nice to dream on, but --”Dragon in Exile, chapter 2 *''Calm before a storm means it'll snow twice as deep,'' Grandma Golden used to say. Dragon in Exile, ch 35 *"You're ass-deep in slush, friend."Dragon in Exile, chapter 4 *"Get the slush offa his land!" *"You'll be the sorriest pile of slush on the planet" *“Sleet, what I got to say won’t take but one minute”Dragon in Exile, chapter 26 *"You get the sleet outta here, Smealy. We ain’t selling exceptions.” *“It’s a wonder poor Sheyn didn’t melt away like a snowflake, opening the door without having any warning about what was waiting on the porch.” *“Now you gone and woke up the pretties, an’ our bonus is slush!” *"Baker Quill doesn't let any ice grow under her boots."Dragon in Exile, chapter 35 *"Just as good to wish for flowers in a blizzard, Algaina, she told herself." *“The bloodlust, though, that got scarier'n a sleet-storm, real fast. Killing rage multiplied in a crowd...”Chimera, in Sleeping with the Enemy: Adventures in the Liaden Universe #22 *“Pablo's fist came outta nowhere, and the next thing Darby was seeing was snowflakes, in real pretty colors, and feeling the wall against his back.” *"Sleet and thunder!" Darby yelled. *“Peor's worry was like a snowfog, clammy and chill.” *“"S'only the kid brother. You snow-blind?"” *“Thundering Blizzards!” How did Quin know this woman?”Friend of a Friend, in Sleeping with the Enemy: Adventures in the Liaden Universe #22 *"If it had been her, standing Road Boss and Delm Korval, too...well. There weren’t enough snowflakes in the storm, like they said here on Surebleak." Neogenesis, ch 1 / Surebleak-1 *However,” Val Con said, his voice about as warm as a deep winter dawn, “that is not how matters fell out.” Dragon in Exile chapter 13 Cold Comedy “What is it doing in orbit around Surebleak?” “Maybe they need ice,” she saidDragon in Exile, chapter 32 Other Idioms *Coffee's on the warmer," Beck said. "Need anything else? Handwich?" Dragon in Exile, ch 35 *Wintercome is late autumn, but with wintry weatherSkyblaze (see Skyblaze) Morphing Names Liaden and Yxtrang names present a challenge to the Terrans on Surebleak, so they simplify: *Michael Golden calls Syl Vor “Silver”: "Silver, is it?" he said interestedly. "Now there's a pairing you don't get every day. I'm Golden myself. Mike Golden." Necessity’s Child, chapter 10 "It's his joke," that same son said, astonishingly. "It isn't very good, but I don't mind it."Necessity’s Child, chapter 11 * Gwince calls Val Con “Mr. Falcon” Dragon in Exile chapter 24 *Quin's new hand Tef Lej pen’Erit is dubbed “Lefty” by Cook (he's not left handed)Dragon in Exile chapter 34 *Lady Kareen yos'Phelium's cook calls Nelirikk "Rikki" Neogenesis, Surebleak / chapter 8 *Kez Rel ter'Ista, a Liaden physician, becomes Kestrel Terista, which he initially hears with a mix of humor and aggravation, eventually adopting the "nickname" *Don Eyr, a Liaden bread and chernubia chef, becomes Donnie. But..."Donnie" -- no, Algaina corrected herself, "Don Eyr." *"I am Jax Ton tel'Ofong -- or Jack O'Fong, according to my boss." *The name “Surebleak” itself: "the name of the planet itself to be a sign of the original colonists’ disapproval" The Rifle’s First Wife References Category:Planets